18th June, 2019 AG (After Grogar)

Princess Celestia's POV

The light of the newly risen sun shines through the stained glass windows, filling the Guardians of Sunlight's church with a mix of pink, green, blue and gold light. At least two hundred worshippers are crammed into the small building. At the solid gold altar stands a unicorn mare with a blue coat so pale it was almost white, as well as a light pink mane and shimmering green eyes. She wears a white and gold cape embellished with a picture of my cutie mark.

"Ponies of Equestria," she says with determination, "There is always darkness before the dawn, and there is a blanket of darkness and evil trying to spread throughout our land as I speak. However, this evil can be dealt with - banished or destroyed, as it has been in the past - and a new era of light can be ushered in, as long as we, the ever faithful worshippers of the Solar Goddess Celestia, can rise with the sun.

"The Guardians of Sunlight have been gaining more and more members over recent weeks, and there are now over a hundred of us. However, praying to the Solar Goddess and pledging to serve her is not enough on its own. We have all made vows to protect and serve the one true Goddess; now we must prove that those promises are genuine. The brightest star in the sky that brings life to this planet casts shadows, where we have taken refuge up to the present. But now is the time to repel the shadows and fill the whole world with light. We must show everypony who we are. Every single pony must act.

"Unicorns, we must raise the sun with her, fight the darkness ourselves! Pegasi, you must keep the skies clear so that her light can reach every corner of the world! Earth ponies, use her holy sunlight to grow a new, happier world! And all of us must fight those who claim that the darkness is here to help us, the ones who lie and claim that Nightmare Moon or the Umbrum or the vampires are needed. They are the foul children of dark magic and a lack of sense, and they wish to destroy us. Those who can be saved, save them. Show the rest no mercy. The Summer Sun Celebration fast approaches. Let us use this celebration to remind all ponies of the importance of the sun, and save ponies from the eternal night. Glory to the Sun!"

"Glory to the Sun!" everypony choruses, before the doors at the back of the church open and the ponies begin to leave.

Despite the sun's warm rays threatening to sneak past the blackout curtains, nopony is asleep in the Lunar Guard Barracks. Every single Night Guard is gathered in the mess hall, along with Princess Luna herself.

"Listen, everypony," she pleads. "My sister is a menace at times, but at the moment there is no reason to hurt her. Why are you all so desperate to?"

"Hurt her? Stars above, no," answers a pony from the back. "Just get her to see sense. A little protest isn't going to hurt her."

There are many nods of agreement.

Luna however, laughs grimly. "No, that won't hurt her. But it could hurt you. The more trouble you cause, the more likely she is to snap, and then there will be a reason to hurt her, but nopony to do so. I doubt any of you want to spend time in the deep pits of Tartarus."

"We have to do something, Princess," a stallion cries indignantly.

"No, you don't. Not for at least a week. Get the Summer Sun Celebration out of the way before you even think about doing anything. Equestria might be at war but most of its ponies are safe at the moment. Starting a civil war would change that."

"It's not a civil war if we're throwing our support behind your daughter as well."

"Are we?"

"Hey, she's as bad as Celestia!"

"Is not! She wants to get rid of Celestia."

"She's a Lunar Guard, just like us!"

"She'll bring the eternal night."

"Is that so bad?"

"Do you want every living creature to die?"

"Eternal night wouldn't do that."

"Sombra's a nuisance."

"Who cares about Sombra?"

"Anypony who doesn't like ponies who can look inside your mind and find your worst fears in a second."

"Coming from a Dreamwalker, that's pretty ironic."

Everypony's voices were lost in the arguments and indistinct chatter, until Luna shouted, "ENOUGH!" and the room fell silent once more.

"Regardless of your opinions I can't let any of you do anything over the next few days. You will do your guard duty and nothing else. If you choose to fight or protest whilst Equestria celebrates the Summer Sun Celebration you will be relieved of duty immediately and asked to look for a new job."

Everypony looked around the room at their peers. The Princess of the Moon had spoken, and though they didn't like what she had to say, they knew it was for the best.

"That concludes our meeting. You are free to go. I need a cup of coffee." She waltzed out of the room and into the kitchens.

Starlight Glimmer hums to herself as she trots over to Sugar Belle's for a breakfast muffin, only to stop outside Double Diamond's house. He is sitting on his doorstep with a small radio next to him, listening to the headlines.

"And now for our top story today: It has only just been announced that a week ago the 'Daughter of the Night' Moonlight Shade married King Sombra of the Crystal Empire. The news comes as Princess Celestia announces a crackdown on security at this year's Summer Sun Celebration in Los Pegasus."

"Dammit," Starlight mutters. "I would've thought that Celestia would keep her mouth shut about it. Great. Now she's going to send all of the Solar Guards here, and if she finds the Cutie Mark Vault we're screwed."

"Calm down, Starlight," Diamond tells her.

"Calm down?! They'll throw me in Tartarus if they find out what I did!"

"You're forgetting a few things. One, you've got us to help you, and we wouldn't let them do that. Two, you hid that place well, and almost nopony knows those caves in the mountains as you and I do."

"Three," Sugar Belle adds as she walks over, carrying a tray with a cup of tea and a breakfast muffin for Starlight, "Celestia is in Los Pegasus, so everything is going to be about protecting her. Why would the Solar Guards storm a little village in the middle of nowhere, even if you did take all of our cutie marks? Also, you know we've forgiven you, so stop worrying about it."

"So really there's nothing to worry about. Thanks, both of you," Starlight sighs.

"There's something else, though. Do you really think the Daughter of the Night would let them put you in Tartarus? She seemed really nice when she visited. Obviously, we didn't know it was her, but still, it made me think twice about everything they say about her."

"I don't know. She's not really spoken to me since she left."

"If she hates Celestia as much as you said, then she'll help you."

Starlight smiles. "I think you're right."

The images in the mirror fade until it shows only my reflection. I have made a mistake in telling the press about the Umbrum and the vampire. All it's done is spread panic and made my little ponies fearful of each other. I need to calm everypony's worries, talk to them, answer any questions. A press conference would be a good idea. Oh, and I need to thank Lulu for speaking to the Vampire Guards. Goodness knows what would have happened if they had been left to their own devices. The Summer Sun Celebration could have been turned into a massacre. I have always thought that they are too violent, too forceful. They don't make you feel secure, they make you feel like you're being watched. But never mind.

She implied that she supported their decisions, which makes me worry a little, but she doesn't want them to act out of violence, so my ponies are safe. She's doing what she always said she was doing: working for both sides. Except, by the sound of what the vampires were saying, there are three sides. My ponies, those who support Luna and those who can somehow support the tyrant Umbrum. If only I could fix these divisions between the ponies of Equestria.

I could, but I'd have to take risks which I'm not willing to take. "Keep calm," Starswirl said many years ago. "Do not let the pressure get to you. Let it lend you strength. And do not use your power foolishly." Lulu did, but I'll try my hardest not to. I am here for the sake of protecting my little ponies. I can't mess this up.

Of course, sometimes the radical option is the best one, and the vampire hasn't gone anywhere yet. Sometimes I have to deal with problems myself. I never like doing this, but considering what I have just seen in the mirror, it might be for the best.

I hold a necklace in my magic and drop it into a cardboard box with a letter taped to the side. I seal the box and send it with a burst of magical flame. Let's hope it reaches the right pony.

Author's Note

The Start of a New Chapter

And so begins the second chapter of Moonlight and Sombra's story! It might take a while to publish Chapter 1 but I'm getting there. The thing is, I've got so many ideas that I don't know exactly where to start. But I've found a date for the start of the story - the 18th of June, two days before the Summer Sun Celebration starts and about a week after the wedding of Moonlight and Sombra.

I wasn't originally going to have this prologue, but I felt like I needed to set things out properly. At some point I might go back and add a prologue to the prequel Sombra's Bat, but now is not the time. Too many things to do.

This second story is in part influenced by the music of Jyc Row, in particular the Infinite Eclipse playlist. These songs are what made me think that the ponies of Equestria should be involved in this story too. As Wishbone Willow said in the early chapters of Sombra's Bat, this is about more than whatever issues Moonlight and Celestia have with each other, although they are still the most important characters of the story. The home front is just as important as the front line at times.

It might take a week or two to get Chapter 1 written and published, so keep an eye out. I'll let you know when there's any updates.

~~Don't go looking for spoilers. You'll drive yourself insane.~~

That's all for now, but I hope you like the story so far!
~ Angel